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Little was actually known about the type, aside from the Mark 3 example provided by the Doctor's TARDIS herself. The Type 40 was intended to have six pilots to operate the console smoothly; the Tenth Doctor explained that the reason his TARDIS was "always rattling about the place" was that he was flying alone a vehicle meant to be crewed by six. (TV: Journey's End)

The Doctor's TARDIS was not always referred to as a "Type 40". Initially, there was no suggestion that the TARDIS was anything other than a unique craft. However, with the broadcast of The Time Meddler, the notion was seeded that, like cars and other devices, TARDISes were produced with mark numbers, as the Monk's TARDIS was a Mark IV, with the Doctor's not named in the serial. The actual type numbers of other Time Lords' TARDISes have never been given in televised stories. However, other type numbers have been mentioned in other media. More recently, the Doctor's TARDIS has been given the designation TT Type 40, Mark 3 by the onboard computer on the Teselecta in the episode Let's Kill Hitler.